Panty hose measuring apparatus and method

ABSTRACT

A panty hose measuring apparatus in which a pair of panty hose receiving forms are positioned parallel to each other for receiving the foot, leg, crotch and waist portions of a panty hose garment with the forms being displaceable in response to forces applied to the forms reflecting size and volume dimensions of the panty hose garment being tested. A method for testing volumes and sizes of panty hose garments having foot, leg, crotch and waist portions by placing the panty hose garment on a form to receive the panty hose garment portions, stretching the garment at least longitudinally and transversely, and applying a longitudinal force to stretch the garment to a prescribed extent and releasing the longitudinal force to a lower longitudinal force magnitude.

United States Patent Page [ 5] Feb.8,1972

[54l PANTY HOSE MEASURING APPARATUS AND METHOD [72] Inventor: Howard M. Page, Elon College, N.C.

[73] Assignee: Leath McCarthy 8: Maynard, Inc.,

Burlington, N.C.

[22] Filed: Apr. 28, 1969 [2]] Appl. No.: 819,613

3,417,068 10/1969 Foreman ..223/72X 3,472,434 10/1969 Cherry v.223/72X Primary ExaminerLeonard Forman Assistant Examiner-Dennis A. Dearing Att0rneyDavid Rabin [57] ABSTRACT A panty hose measuring apparatus in which a pair of panty hose receiving forms are positioned parallel to each other for receiving the foot, leg, crotch and waist portions of a panty hose garment with the forms being displaceable in response to forces applied to the forms reflecting size and volume dimensions of the panty hose garment being tested. A method for testing volumes and sizes of panty hose garments having foot, leg, crotch and waist portions by placing the panty hose garment on a form to receive the panty hose garment portions, stretching the garment at least longitudinally and transversely, and applying a longitudinal force to stretch the garment to a prescribed extent and releasing the longitudinal force to a lower longitudinal force magnitude.

2 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PATENTED FEB 8:972 3.639.987

sum 2 0r 2 lNVENTOR HOWARD M. PAGE attorney PANTY HOSE MEASURING APPARATUS AND METHOD BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Panty hose garments have become staple garments in recent years with the advent of textured thermoplastic yarns which impart stretch characteristics to all or selected portions of the panty hose garment. The panty hose garments are usually fonned from two circular knit seamless elongated hosiery blanks with either torque, stretch-torque, Agilon or other types of textured yarns, to impart stretch characteristics to the garment. The two elongated hosiery blanks are slit and seamed together in the upper portion to form a substantially U-shaped seam in the crotch and waist portions with an elastic band s'ewn or knit integrally in the waist portion of the garment.

Presently, there are no established standards for sizing panty hose garments and many such garments are made in a variety of sizes without particular attention being directed to the wide variety of foot, leg, body or waist dimensions of the ultimate wearer. The particular sizing standards employed by one manufacturer will vary considerably from the sizing standards employed by another manufacturer resulting in ultimate consumer confusion since the size designations used by one manufacturer will have no correlation to the size designations used by another manufacturer. It has been desirable to standardize panty hose sizes by relating a particular sizeto a fixed form or manikin. The fixed form or manikin may be dimensioned in the size of a small, medium or large wearer with each size designation corresponding to prescribed standards whether small, medium or large, or other designations prescribed by the particular manufacturer. Due to the wide variation in individual leg, foot, hip and waist sizes, as well as the ultimate volume of the wearer, it is extremely difficult to determine whether a prescribed pair of panty hose will fit properly a variety of leg and body sizes within a particular range. It will be readily apparent that simply because the knitted fabric is stretchable and the yarns provide increased stretch characteristics, the panty hose garments designed for a slender woman will not fit the dimensions of a large woman, and conversely.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Basically, this invention, in a preferred embodiment, enables a panty hose garment manufacturer to size a garment periodically and control quality by translating the dimensions from a fixed volume form or manikin of a particular type to a relatively inexpensive apparatus for testing length, volume, and other critical areas to determine whether a particular garment falls within prescribed limits for a particular size. A pair of elongated hosiery-receiving fonns are laterally spaced apart from each other in parallel relationship and mounted on a supporting bracket that is yieldably displaceable between limits within a bracket-supporting cylinder filled with fluid. Suitable pressure gauges may be attached to determine the force applied to a panty hose garment mounted on the forms in order to evaluate the stretchability of selected portions of the garment and the volume or capacity of the garment. The individual legs of the panty hose garment may be measured to determine certain characteristics. By utilization of a slidable crotch member which straddles or bridges the gap or space between the spaced-apart hosiery receiving forms, it is possible to simulate the testing of the panty hose garment as though it had been placed on a manikin or a wearer. By applying forces individually to the leg portions of the garment and to the body portion of the panty hose garment, it is possible to determine whether the garment comes within a prescribed set of standards established for a given size by the garment manufacturer.

The individual depending legs or portions of a panty hose garment 'are placed individually on the forms and stretched in a longitudinal direction, as well as in a transverse direction, depending upon the forms utilized. It is possible to ascertain, within limits, whether the volume of the leg portions are within a prescribed standard for a predetermined size of panty hose. It is also possible to determine whether the volume of the body portion, including the waist and crotch portions of the panty hose, falls within a prescribed standard by applying a predetermined force to the body portion in a direction longitudinal of the pair of panty hose while mounted on the forms.

Therefore, it is an objective of this invention to provide an apparatus and method for establishing whether a panty hose garment conforms to specific standards established as to a given size for volumes in the leg and body portions of the garment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Many of the other objects and advantages of the panty hose garment measuring apparatus will become more readily apparent to those skilled in the hosiery knitting art from a detailed description of a preferred embodiment which is not intended in any limitative sense taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a panty hose garment measuring apparatus mounted in a vertical position having a slidable crotch member positioned between upstanding hosiery-receiving forms with a portion of the supporting base and cylinder removed;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the measuring device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial side view in exploded fonn of the foot portion of one of the hosiery-receiving forms illustrating a changeable toe length portion;

FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken along the plane of section line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged portion of a section of the slidable crotch-supporting member and guide rails of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a front perspective view of the pantyhose measuring device illustrating the crotch-receiving member in an elevated position before a panty hose garment has been placed on the apparatus; I I

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 in which the crotch-receiving member has been lowered to the lowermost position and a panty hose garment mounted on the apparatus and a downwardly directed force applied to the waistband of the gannent by an operator;

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIGS. 6 and 7 after the downwardly directed force applied as shown in FIG. 7 is at least partially removed on the waistband of the panty hose; and

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 6 with the crotch-supporting member being engaged by a panty hose garment as a downwardly directed force is applied to the body or waistband portion of the garment by an operator.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to the drawings and particularly to FIGS. I through 5, there is illustrated a preferred embodiment of this invention in the form of a panty hose testing apparatus I0 in which the base 11 supports a vertical cylindrical stanchion I2 that is filled with hydraulic fluid 13 into which stanchion a pressure gauge 14 is supported through the fitting I5 to indicate visually the pressure of the fluid within the cylinder or stanchion 12. A vent or relief line I6 may be connected to the stanchion I2 and is provided with a threaded fitting 17 for suitable pressure adjustments. The upper end of the stanchion 12 is provided with a sealing closure member 18 that is threadably secured to the stanchion I2 and is provided with a diaphragm-receiving recess 19 in which the diaphragm 20 "is seated. A diaphragm retaining and sealing plug 21 is threadably received in the diaphragm recess 19 for coopera tively supporting therein the frustoconical plunger-receiving bearing 22 which is releasably locked by setscrew 23 in member 21 that engages bearing 22. The displaceable piston 24 is vertically slidable in bearing sleeve 22. The lower end 25 of piston 24 is positioned on the upper surface of the pressure disk 26 for displacement against diaphragm 20. A downwardly directed force applied to the plunger 24 will displace disk 26 against diaphragm 20 thereby increasing the pressure in the cylindrical stanchion 12 to record an increase in the deflection of the needle 27 on gauge 14.

A pair of vertically projecting hosiery-receiving flat forms 30 and 31 are supported in parallel spaced-apart relationship on the horizontal mounting bracket 32 that is securely fastened to the upper end of the piston 24 by suitable fastening members (not shown). Each of the hosiery-receiving forms 30 and 31 preferably has a removable variable toe portion 33 that is releasably secured by means of the projecting lugs 34 that are cooperatively received in the dowel-receiving recesses 35 in the foot portion 36 of each of the forms 30 and 31. The heel 37, calf 38, knee 39; thigh 40 and waist or hip 41 portions of each of the hosiery forms are preferably integral. The exposed sides of each of the forms 30 have spaced-apart graduations 42 to indicate to an operator the length of the stocking or particular portion of the panty hose garment being tested. It will be readily apparent that the size of the foot portion may vary by placing a smaller or larger foot portion 33 in position while the other portions of the form 30 and 31 remain the same.

A dome-shaped crotch portion 45 is slidably mounted on a supporting bracket 46 that is retained between the parallel, spaced-apart forms 30 and 31, as shown in FIG. 1, for testing the crotch area or section of the panty portion of the garment. Vertical guide rails 47 and 48 are secured to the inside faces 49 of the forms 30 and 31 which extend longitudinally and each is provided with a T-shaped cross section for cooperatively receiving the crotch member guide rail brackets 49 and 50 each of which is secured to the supporting member 46 by means of the rods 51 that are individually adjustable for correcting any misalignment.

The crotch simulating member 45 is vertically displaceable between limits on the longitudinally extending guide rails 47 and 48. However, in testing a garment, the member 45 will be elevated to have the top edge 53 of the rail bracket 49 coincide with the notch 54 marked on the rail 47 which is approximately 24 inches from the heel of the form 30 and 31. A toggle mechanism 55 is supported on the crotch member support 46 for adjustably positioning the crotch member 45 along the longitudinal length of the rails 47 and 48. Bracket 57 is secured on support 46 and retains the plunger 58 through the guide bushing 59 for reciprocation. The free end of rod 58 is provided with a friction pad 60 to engage one of the rails 47 while the opposite end of rod 58 is pivotally connected to the link 61. The other end of link 61 is pivotally connected to the actuating lever 62 which in turn is pivotally connected to a depending flange 63 from the bracket 57. The operating handle 62 is provided for reciprocating the rod 58 and the pad 60 for releasable clamping engagement in the desired vertical position for the crotch member 45. By pivoting the handle or lever 62 in a clockwise direction, rod 58 is displaced to the left thereby releasably clamping the friction pad 60 to the rail 47. By applying a downward force upon the hosiery forms 30 and 31, piston 24 will be displaced downwardly to deflect the membrane or diaphragm 20 which will transmit the forces applied to the fluid thereby deflecting the needle 27 in gauge 14.

Before describing in detail one method of testing panty hose in a preferred set of standards without being limited to any dimensions for the hosiery-receiving forms which may vary considerably depending upon the manufacturers standards, it is sufficient to indicate that the forms may be of the type conventionally used in hosiery boarding operations but the overall length of the form may vary taking into consideration that the hosiery blanks used in panty hose garments are substantially longer than the length of a conventional stocking since the elongated blank must include the panty portion. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the panty hose being tested has foot portion 70,

leg portions 71, panty portion 72, which may also be referred to as the body portion, and a waistband portion 73 with a connecting crotch area or section 74. The body or panty portion of the garment is generally knit with multifilament stretch yarns and the panty portion is usually opaque in contrast to the sheer or relatively sheer leg portions. The f'welt line 75 may be the divisional line between the sheer portion of the garment and the opaque panty portion although the specific position may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Also, the waistband portion 73 may vary from a knit-in elastic band to a sewn-on webbing. It will also be readily appreciated that in some panty hose garments, the heel portion may be straight or heelless although the volume of the garment will still have to be substantially the same to fit a particular size.

In testing a garment on the panty hose measuring apparatus 10, the crotch portion 45 is displaced downwardly as shown in FIG. 7 so as not to engage the body portion of the garment initially. The panty hose garment is placed on the hosiery forms substantially as is done in boarding operations and an operator grasps the panty portion of the garment adjacent to the waistband 73 and exerts a downwardly extending force thereby stretching the garment throughout longitudinally and transversely depending upon the knitted structure and yarns used. The measurements are determined by reading the graduations 42 that appear on the exterior portions of the forms preferably at the welt line 75 for determining the length of the stocking portion. The graduations on the sides of the hosiery forms are provided to correspond to a particular predetermined size garment established to come within a particular standard for a given size. The graduations that appear on the forms are in inches and generally conform to those sizes for stockings. It must be understood that the leg and body measurements may vary within the same size depending upon each particular wearer and the variables include the length of the foot, the volume of the foot, the length of the leg, the volume of the leg, thereby making it extremely difficult to incorporate all variables in a standard set of specifications. A preferred sizing chart that has been found suitable for determining various sizes of panty hose is shown as being representative only and without limitation:

One preferred method of testing a panty garment is illustrated in FIGS. 6 through 9 which will exemplify one manner in which testing may occur using a device of the type heretofore described. The crotch member 45 is displaced to its lowermost position as shown in FIG. 7. A pair of panty hose is placed on the vertically extending and parallel hosiery-receiving forms 30 and 31. A downward force is applied by an operator who grasps the sides of the waistband 73 and exerts a downward force after properly positioning the gannent on the forms. A downward force is applied of sufficient magnitude to register approximately 43 pounds per square inch on gauge 14, as shown in FIG. 7. The downwardly directed force applied to the panty hose is then relieved gradually, as shown in FIG. 8, sufficiently to permit the gauge 14 to return to a reading of approximately 5 pounds per square inch. The operator then reads the graduations or scale reading 42 at the welt line 75 between the leg and body portions of the gannent to determine the overall leg measurement for the hosiery or stocking part of the garment. For a size A, and a foot size 9, the leg reading should be approximately 34 inches. After testing the length of the leg portions, the crotch member 45 is elevated to the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and the operator then grasps the waistband portion 73 of the garment at the front and back .as shown in FIG. 9 and the garment is pulled downwardly with sufi'lcient force to record approximately pounds per square inch on gauge 14. After gradually relieving the downward force applied by an operator to the panty hose to the point where 5 pounds per square inch is indicated on gauge 14, the location of the welt line 75 is then read to determine the measurement. For a size A garment having a foot size 9, the approximate length of the reading should be 36 inches. By comparing the two measurements, the leg and body, with the above chart, and taking into consideration the foot size provided on the form, it is possible to ascertain whether the panty hose comes within the prescribed standard for a particular size of a particular manufacturer.

It has been ascertained that by utilizing the device of this invention that the above chart takes into consideration the hip measurements and also the measurements in the crotch from the navel to the back comparable to that which would be measured on the wearer of a garment or on a form. It must be recognized that sizing depends on each particular customer's sizing and the standards may vary considerably.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for measuring sizes and volumes of panty hose garments having foot, leg, crotch and waist portions comprising: a pair of forms for receiving foot, leg, crotch and waist portions; yieldable means mounting said form parallel to each other for displacement together between limits in response to longitudinal forces applied to said forms; biasing means for biasing said forms to a first position corresponding to one of said limits as said fonns are displaced from said first position toward a second position corresponding to other limit; forcemeasuring means responsive to the movement of said form on said mounting means between said limits for measuring the longitudinal forces applied to said forms by a longitudinal stretching force applied to a panty hose garment thereon; and means positioned between and displaceable with said forms to receive the crotch portion of a panty hose garment, said crotch-receiving means being secured to said guide means and displaceable positionable along the extent of said forms.

2. An apparatus for measuring panty hose garments as claimed in claim 1 said force-measuring means including an instrument mounted on said forms for measuring a panty hose garment positioned on said forms after a force has been applied thereto. 

1. An apparatus for measuring sizes and volumes of panty hose garments having foot, leg, crotch and waist portions comprising: a pair of forms for receiving foot, leg, crotch and waist portions; yieldable means mounting said form parallel to each other for displacement together between limits in response to longitudinal forces applied to said forms; biasing means for biasing said forms to a first position corresponding to one of said limits as said forms are displaced from said first position toward a second position corresponding to other limit; forcemeasuring means responsive to the movement of said form on said mounting means between said limits for measuring the longitudinal forces applied to said forms by a longitudinal stretching force applied to a panty hose garment thereon; and means positioned between and displaceable with said forms to receive the crotch portion of a panty hose garment, said crotch-receiving means being secured to said guide means and displaceable positionable along the extent of said forms.
 2. An apparatus for measuring panty hose garments as claimed in claim 1 said force-measuring means including aN instrument mounted on said forms for measuring a panty hose garment positioned on said forms after a force has been applied thereto. 